Congress Proposal Threatens Census Quality, Says ASA

The American Statistical Association has expressed concern about new proposals which would prohibit the Census Bureau from making more than two contact attempts for any survey. The ASA says data quality benefits outweigh the additional funds required for further approaches.

As reported by the Census Project Blog, statisticians say the proposals, in Section 605 of the House Fiscal Year 2026 Commerce, Justice, Science appropriations bill will 'undermine the nation's statistical infrastructure, distort representation, and erode the precision of the data on which communities, businesses and governments depend.'

In a letter sent on Tuesday, the ASA noted that 'Nonresponse is not random. Hard-to-reach households such as rural families, renters, and low-income households are disproportionately excluded when follow-up is limited. Experience has shown that collecting efforts must continue beyond two attempts to reach them. Further, research shows these respondents most closely resemble the nonrespondents, and their inclusion is critical to reducing bias. Excluding them systematically biases results toward more affluent and easier-to-count groups. We saw these biases manifest in 2020, when pandemic disruptions forced the ACS to scale back field operations. The result was a data set skewed toward higher-income households such that the bureau had to classify it as 'experimental.''

Acknowledging the significant cost of continuing follow-ups of nonresponders, the Association pointed to a Bureau of Labor Statistics study which found that 'while extreme follow-up yields diminishing returns, early and mid-level efforts are critical to reducing bias.' It adds: 'Recent studies linking survey records with administrative data show that when response rates fall, income and poverty estimates are biased upward, with Hispanic and low-income households particularly undercounted.'

Founded in Boston in 1839 and now based in Alexandria, VA, the ASA is online at www.amstat.org .